It has been a whirlwind of activity for the DealStreetAsia team, as allocators, asset and wealth managers, and founders from across Asia (and wider afield) came together in Singapore for the 11th edition of the Asia PE-VC Summit.
Some highlights from this year’s sessions:
Philippine digital wallet GCash’s upcoming IPO could be a watershed moment for PE-backed exits in Southeast Asia, said Warburg Pincus’ Vishal Mahadevia, head of Asia Private Equity and global co-head of Financial Services.
Meanwhile, PE practitioners say they are already focused on operational improvements and exit strategies early on in the investment cycle, in this discussion on the region’s exit environment and distributions which featured executives from Ardian, Bain Capital, Brookfield, Blackstone, and CPP Investments.
Separately, Southeast Asia’s venture capitalists, from Vertex Holdings, Kickstart Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and Jungle Ventures discuss how the sector is grappling with a structural gap in follow-on funding, outside of the mega deals the region has seen recently.
Among the speakers at the Asia PE-VC Summit for the first time was Yoshi Kiguchi, the chief investment officer at the Pension Funds of Japanese Corporations. During a fireside chat, Kiguchi was emphatic about the need for Japanese institutional investors to take on higher risks and allocate more towards private markets, in order to counter capital erosion as a result of rising inflation.
For more on what Limited Partners are looking for, this week’s Beyond The Buyout has the takeaways from the Summit.
Catch up on these and the other top themes from the discussions in the Private Equity and Investment Summit; and the Growth and Technology, and Private Markets Forum, which featured sessions on Asia’s deep-tech opportunity, the use of AI in private markets, and Southeast Asia’s next big consumer opportunity.
Look out for more coverage from our Asia PE-VC Summit 2026, including stories from the Private Wealth, Capital & Innovation Forum, throughout the coming week.
Deals and more
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has emerged as the lead buyer in a secondary process involving GSR Ventures’ fourth vehicle, which is heavily concentrated in Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
Indonesian fintech DANA has secured an investment from 01Fintech, a growth equity firm focused on fintech in Southeast Asia.
Separately, Indonesia-based payment fintech DOKU has rebranded to “DOKU by Antom”, as Ant International’s merchant payment and digitisation arm Antom emerges as the largest shareholder in the company, according to corporate filings seen by DealStreetAsia.
As the fintech landscape in Southeast Asia matures, we look at how the dynamics between traditional lenders and their once-upstart disruptors have evolved.
The International Finance Corporation is set to invest up to $10 million in ProsperETE Growth Fund I, a $220 million vehicle focused on small- and mid-market companies operating across climate mitigation and adaptation, primarily in India, with potential investment in Bangladesh and Mauritius.
Oman India Joint Investment Fund is said to be in early talks to invest in Bengaluru-based mattress company FLO Sleep Solutions.
EQT has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, as it looks to deploy into opportunities across healthcare and life sciences, education, technology, industrials, business services, and infrastructure and energy transition in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
Malaysian state fund-of-funds Jelawang Capital has appointed a new CEO, Howard Soh, who was formerly at Temasek-founded venture firm LemmaTree.
Longer reads
In an interview with DealStreetAsia, Pantheon head of international private wealth Victor Mayer asserted that evergreen vehicles catering to private wealth investors should have a measured approach to fundraising, or effectively a cap on subscriptions.
And, a look at how Vietnam’s upgrade to emerging-market status could make IPOs a more credible and attractive exit route for private equity-backed companies, as greater foreign participation and a deeper, more accessible stock market improve the prospects for PE-backed companies seeking to go public.
Finally, in case you missed it, here’s a look at what were the most-read stories in August, from top IPOs in Southeast Asia, to liquidity transactions, and the apparent winding down of one of the most prolific venture capital funds in the region.
